President Donald Trump on Tuesday, 23 October, criticized the Saudi operation that killed journalist Jamal Khashoggi, calling it one of the "worst cover-ups in the history of cover-ups."
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he was expecting a full report on the killing soon. But, he says, "They had a very bad original concept" and it was "carried out poorly."
He called the events after Khashoggi's death "the worst cover-up ever."
Earlier in the day, the United Nations had said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stood by his earlier call for an independent and transparent investigation into the death of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq had reiterated on Tuesday that the Secretary General can initiate an investigation, if key parties request it or if there is a legislative mandate from a UN body.
US Revoke Visas of Saudis Implicated in Killing
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday said that the Trump administration was set to revoke the visas of some Saudi officials, who were implicated in the death of Khashoggi.
Pompeo announced the step at a State Department news conference on Tuesday.
Vice President Mike Pence said earlier that Khashoggi's death at Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, "will not go without an American response."
The visa revocations are the first punitive measures taken by the administration against the Saudis since Khashoggi disappeared after entering the consulate on 2 October.
Saudi Arabia has claimed Khashoggi, a writer for The Washington Post who wrote critically about Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, died accidentally in a brawl at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on 2 October.
But Turkish officials say a 15-men team tortured, killed and dismembered the writer and say Saudi officials had planned the killing for days.
(This article has been published in an association with The Associated Press)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)